I have rooted plants that were cuttings this spring that are doing the same thing. I seem to remember Jon mentioning on this site somewhere that its normal for 1st year plants to occasionally hang onto their leaves for dear life. My greenhouse seems to be hovering around 35 to 40F and those little trees still have leaves but no new growth. I have a couple inside and they're doing fine. If they get a little leggy I'll pinch them but so far no sign of that being necessary. I'd say that you should bring your plants inside and put them in a south facing window so that they can get as much sun as possible. Next year they will sleep.

I just sent a package to upstate NY and one is coming to me in Wis. in trade. I'm not worried about cold. My green house is hovering around 35F and my trees are ready for anything.... except a trip to Nome, AK. haha. As long as there are no leaves I say go for it.

I'm thinking that a fig would survive in that gap. The patio enclosure usually has firewood stacked up against the inner wall. But that begins in the fall so the fig would get sun from east through the glass enclosure for most of the year. Then it would get over head sun and some light from the west through the green house. I think I'll wait until I get a fig thats a few years old and then I'll put it out there. Maybe a hardy chicago or other variety that I come across that shows potential. I don't have a marsilles vs but that might be an option as well. I think I'd probably have to wedge a couple of straw bales in there to protect the fig in the winter but I'm excited to give it a try. I may try to put some figs in the raised bed in front of the GH as well and try the bending technique that CCC1 has described in his post. So many experiments, so little time!

Question to fellow fig lovers. In the first series if pics that I posted, #3 you can clearly see the white rain barrel. If you look closely you can see the narrow gap between the greenhouse and the patio enclosure. What do you think if I plant a fig or 2 in there. Do you think it would survive the winter here in WI? Maybe I could stack some hay bales to enclose the tree. Any thoughts?

The door is attached to my house (see pics below). There used to be a double door entry to the basement. It was blocked up when I bought the house in '97. I busted it out and put a ramp up into my GH. If I remember correctly my costs were as follows..... -250 Cement Blocks (free/ salvaged)-Masons to pour footing/ lay block, etc ($1,600)*-Treated lumber ($500)-Exhaust fan ($150)-Polycarbonate Panels (Free/ work Trade)-2 Windows @ lower front ($150)-Benches (Free/ work Trade)-Diamond Plate Aluminium Ramp (Free/ salvaged)-Exterior door into GH ($150)

*The concrete work included the installation of a cement floor in my 6x12 wine cellar I built the year before. I also put more drain tile around the foundation that connected with the existing tile I layed previously. You can see the white flexible pipe in one of the pics. Ummmm, if I'm forgetting anything just ask.

As luck would have it, I did a trade with a local veggie farmer. I worked off the bill with hours in the field. He placed a big order with Farmtec and added my materials on the list as well. Farmtec sends out catalogs and has a website. If I remember correctly the poly that I chose lets in about 80% sunlight.

I started building my greenhouse in '03 and a year later it was finnished. I dug it down into the earth to create a heat sink. You can see the pics below. Only a few years ago I put a vent through the wall for heat. The pipe from my woodstove has made my greenhouse experience even more pleasant. The glazing that I used was a series of polycarbonate panels. If you have the resources I highly recommend the poly.

Martin, don't leave us midwesterners!! We'll miss you! Before you go you must pass the fig torch to many other Chicagoland folks. My Dad retired to FL about 10 yrs ago, he was sick of the snow too. At least I had him plant a fig. Good luck on your journey...where ever it may lead you.

I love the idea. Hope you don't have any mouse problems this winter. Last year Bass had a problem with mice and I think he did something similar. Maybe your barrels will work better since you mounded soil around the base. Please keep us posted!!

You said that you have a Lebanese fig? In September I got cuttings from a man in California. He got the tree from his neighbor who was French Lebanese. She went home for a visit and brought back cuttings and grew a tree in her yard. This man that I know said he's had someone from the university come over to try to ID the fig with no luck. All I know is that the fruit is similar to Black Mission. Are you familiar with any Lebanese varieties like that?

Glad to see that you found this thread. A few days ago I posted some questions on your old fig wine thread at GW. I'd love to get some answers.......

sandsquid,

How did the next batch go? Did bumping the ratio up to 5 lb per gal and adding the banana make a big difference? I've evolved my wine making to omit the campden tablets with no bad results. Whats your opinion on campden tablets? I've found that more and more people don't like sulfites in their wine.

Curious, Little John

PS- How can you bring yourself to make wine from all of those figs? It better be pretty amazing stuff.

Like the subject line says...what do you do with all of the figs that you harvest? The reason that ask is I'm curious about putting up/ preserving figs for later. Last September my girlfriend and I were in Los Angeles for our annual job at the LA county fair. We have 2 days off a week while we're there and I was lucky enough to connect with one of the locals for a foraging expedition near Lake Arrowhead. We found an abandoned old shack and the remains of an old homestead. To my great surprise we came across a fig tree loaded with fruit!! When the day was done we each went home with a large grocery bag full of figs. I really wasn't sure what to do with these golden beauties but after some dialog with my partner we decided to trim the stems and put them in a pot with a small amount of water. We made a nice fig sauce...nice enough to blow away even the best apple or pear sauce I've tasted. We then fired up our camp stove again and pulled out our mason jars. I'm glad to say that we still have some jars left in our pantry but sadly they're going fast. This year I've thought about making fig wine. I make a lot of wines but I don't know if I can bring myself to use the figs for that, they're kind of precious. What do others do with their figs? Do you have any recipes?

I'm glad to hear from everyone about TyTy. I was considering getting one of their "super giant" figs. I don't think I could care for it properly though as I'm not a model with slicked back hair...haha.

Emoticons

Insert Video

Insert Code

Please paste your code into the box below:

Insert Photos

Web address (URL)

Image URL

If your URL is correct, you'll see an image preview here. Large images may take a few minutes to appear.
Remember: Using others' images on the web without their permission may be bad manners, or worse, copyright infringement.